


The Road Goes on Forever

by fatalarcher



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Car Accidents, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hunk and Pidge are supportive but sometimes a little too enthusiastic, M/M, Motorcycles, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Panic Attacks, Pining, a little Hunk/Shay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-06-26 01:07:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15652656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fatalarcher/pseuds/fatalarcher
Summary: Lance hits Keith and his motorcycle with his car.Luckily, things can only go up from there.Finished story, just breaking into chapters and posting as I edit for the last time.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [811brynncess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/811brynncess/gifts).



> I got this idea a little while ago while screaming about voltron with my friend. This is my first story on here because I'm really bad about finishing things, but this one will definitely get finished. I wrote it all before S7 but it's not like it's canon compliant anyway. Also, the story is completely written, it just needs to be cleaned up in a few places. It should be a little over 10,000 words when it's done. 
> 
> I hope you all like the idea of Keith on a motorcycle as much as I do. Let me know your thoughts in the comments and hopefully I'll have the next chapter up really soon.

It’s no secret that Lance is a bad driver – horrendous, actually. He got his license soon after his sixteenth birthday because he knew it would help his family if he could drive his younger siblings around. This also meant he got his license before Hunk or Pidge, and for a while, this was great. But after one near miss too many, Hunk gently but firmly told his best friend that he would never again get in a car with Lance behind the wheel. Lance took the hint.

But a guy’s got to get away sometimes, right? So whenever his siblings get a little too annoying or hang off him so much he’s worried they’ll stretch his clothes, he grabs his keys and heads off.

Today happens to be one of those days, so despite the overly dramatic cacophony of whines following him out the door, Lance pushes them all back inside, refusing to feel guilty, and hops in his car.

 

The problem isn’t that Lance doesn’t know the rules of the road – although a glance at his driving record might not indicate that. The real problem is that Lance likes to go _fast_. He’ll plug in his phone, put on some tunes, and drive without a care in the world, letting the wind whip in through his sun roof. 

He won’t meet with any distractions out there, or at least none on par with his siblings. He loves them all, of course, but after assuring them that yes, he’ll be back soon, and yes, he’ll be safe, and they can play more Mario Kart later that evening, he’s a little tired of it all.

After he puts everything into gear, the first thing Lance does is head over to his favorite gas station and fill his car up. He’s got to take good care of his special Blue, especially since it’s nights like these – nights when the stars glitter overhear, tempting him – when he feels the most wanderlust.

Once he’s got a few miles behind him, Lance reaches his favorite roads in town: the windy backroads. He goes faster back here than he knows he’s supposed to, and he’s been pulled over a couple of times on these roads, but nothing excites him like the crazy turns and the wind in his hair when he rolls his window down. He watches as his speedometer shows he’s going 5, then 10, then 15 miles over the speed limit, just like he likes it. As he passes the slower cars in the right lane, he feels a rush.

After a while, though, he notices there’s one car he just can’t pass. Or rather, one motorcycle. This asshole seems hell-bent on keeping up with Lance. _What a reckless driver_ , he thinks. Lance has always hated motorcyclists. They seem fearless, as if they’re daring cars to hit them when they weave from lane to lane.

Lance considers slowing down so he doesn’t have to spend more time than is necessary near this guy, but that feels like letting him win. Instead, he does his best to keep an eye on him, figuring he’ll take the first opportunity he can to get ahead of this guy.

His current song ends, so Lance flips through his playlist and lands on a song he likes with a good beat. He turns the sound up and hits the gas a little harder so he speeds forward. He’s barely paying attention when a blur of a motorcycle passes dangerously close in front of him into the left lane.

Lance does what any sensible person would do: he hits the breaks and screams a little bit. After he creates a good distance between them and calms down from that scare, his temper flares. _Two can play at that game_ , he thinks. 

With a quick glance over his shoulder, he slides over into the right lane and tries to pass the cyclist. He thanks his lucky stars that there’s no one on this stretch of road. A cop would have a field day with the two of them, especially since when he speeds up, so does the motorcyclist. Despite realizing how dumb this is, Lance is too deep in this now to just drive away, so he finds himself racing the motorcyclist all the way past the turn he’d usually take to begin his drive home. 

He’s just beginning to wonder how long they can keep this up when he glimpses a stoplight up ahead. He didn’t even remember this road having stoplights on it. Considering he’s going 65 in a 40, he starts to slow down. In this moment, though, the motorcyclist pulls a dangerous stunt: he dives back into the right lane. Lance is truly terrified now, and he slams on the breaks like he’s never had to before. But he’s just not fast enough – right when they come up on the stoplight, Lance’s car hits the back of the motorcycle. 

The motorcycle skids out into the intersection, but luckily the cyclist manages to stay on his bike. Even luckier is the fact that no other cars are coming when he gets pushed out into the middle of the road. Lance is thanking his lucky stars when the helmeted man looks back and jerks his thumb at a nearby parking lot. Lance begrudgingly follows.

As soon as they both stop, the man yanks off his helmet. First, Lance notices how absolutely furious he is. Second, he can’t stop staring at his helmet hair. He knows this is a serious situation, but he can’t stop himself from thinking, _This guy knows mullets are never coming back in style, right?_ But his attention snaps back to life when the man starts talking to him.

“Hey! Earth to asshole!” he snaps, his mouth curling into a snarl.

Lance isn’t sure of the last time he made someone this mad. “What,” is his lackluster reply.

“What do you mean ‘What’? You messed up my bike!” the man bristles at him.

Lance takes another quick look at the bike and his heart sinks. It’s worse than he’d thought. Likely fixable, but still.

In a strained voice, Lance says, “Can I maybe start this conversation by first mentioning how lucky it is that we’re both okay? I feel like that’s something we should maybe be grateful for, and also something we should consider for the rest of this little talk.”

This has the unintended side effect of making the man more upset. “Stop talking!” he yells. “Just – shut up. I should’ve known you’d be terrible. What kind of person listens to ‘Despacito’ that loud anyway? Actually, what kind of person listens to ‘Despacito’ unironically?”

“Hey!” Lance blushes a bit. “It’s got a good beat. Besides, what kind of a person has a mullet in 2018?”

“A mullet?!” the boy fumes, patting his hair. “Don’t even go there. It’s a functional hairstyle.” 

“Hey, you can’t get mad at me for calling it what it is. But fine, pretty boy, forget it for a moment.” Lance smirks at the effect this new nickname has on the other man. “What are we going to do about this?” Lance asks, gesturing to the bike. “I mean, I do feel really bad.”

“Yeah, you should. Do you have insurance?” the man asks gruffly.

“Psh, I’m reckless but not stupid. Have you got a pen?”

The other man digs a pen out from God knows where, and Lance roots around in his car until he finds a piece of paper and quickly writes his name, number, and all the insurance info he thinks the other guy will need.

He turns around and hands the paper to the man, who grimaces.

“Really,” he deadpans. “A McDonald’s receipt?”

“Just be grateful it isn’t all greasy.” He hands the pen back and the other dude writes his info on a sticky note he digs out of his pocket. He shoves it against Lance’s chest and hops back on his motorcycle.

“Well, I guess I’ll message you or something,” Lance says to his retreating back. “See you around.”

“Hope not,” the man says with barely a glance over his shoulder before he brings up the kickstand and zooms away.

Lance can’t help but watch as he disappears. Once the trails of dust are gone, he takes a first glance at the sticky note that really isn’t sticky anymore. The information is hastily scrawled on the back. Keith, huh. Lance notes his horrible handwriting and puts the number in his phone and drives away, preparing for the talking-to he knows he'll get once he's home.

 

It’s been a couple of days, and Lance can’t help but feel guiltier the longer he goes without getting a text from Keith. He wonders if something went wrong with the insurance information he gave him or something, so he decides to text first. He brings up the contact “Helmet-hair” in his phone and sends off a quick message, trying not to think about it too hard.

LM: sooo did you get your bike stuff worked out

It takes a while to get a text back, but finally he receives a short text back.

HH: yup, had to buy a couple parts though

Lance is thankful it can be fixed, but he can’t shake the feeling he has that says he needs to make it up to this guy still. His mamma did raise him right, after all, and it’s not like he can pay him back for the parts he apparently needed.

LM: I’m glad to hear it, can I make it up to you somehow?

HH: I don’t even know you dude, why does it matter

Lance thinks for a second about why he wants to go above and beyond for this guy. He can’t really explain it to himself either, though, so he goes with the most obvious answer.

LM: karma dude. I gotta send good vibes into the world. plus if I ever see you again I don’t want you to run me down on your bike

HH: fine but looking at your beat up car you don’t have a lot of money so how are you planning on “making it up to me”

Lance is about 80% sure this guy wants nothing to do with him. He’s no stranger to that sort of thing, but if that’s the case, why hasn’t he stopped texting back? 

LM: first off Blue is perfect and I can’t stand for you insulting her like that, but second I’m pretty sure my mom’s food can fix just about any problems so why don’t you come over for dinner

_There’s absolutely no way he’ll go for it_ , Lance thinks. That is, until his phone buzzes again, twenty minutes after Lance is sure he won’t be getting any response back.

HH: give me your address then 

Lance, for once, is at a loss of words. His fingers move before he can really think this through.

LM: wait for real? you’re going to come over? like, tomorrow?

HH: well we don’t really have any good food here so why not I guess

LM: are you sure you’re coming over for the food and not to like, beat me up in front of my entire family?

HH: maybe I just want to drive past your house and keep you up when you’re trying to sleep

LM: joke’s on you I don’t sleep  
LM: but wait my lil siblings do so seriously don’t do that

HH: yeah yeah don’t worry I’m not going to do anything like that idiot but I will steal your food or something

LM: alright um sure whatever here’s my address

Lance proceeds to send him his home address, throwing caution to the wind.

HH: wait for real

LM: I mean you’re too skinny anyways so you should get a proper meal once in a while, come over at like 6:30 for dinner tomorrow so I can say I’ve repaid you

Later that evening Lance goes to bed, not entirely sure this whole thing hasn’t been a weird fever dream.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two! Please be aware there's a panic attack in this chapter. BUT I'm hoping I made up for the serious stuff with copious amounts of flirting.

Keith can’t believe he’s doing this. And when a lady who Keith can only assume is Lance’s mom opens the door and welcomes him with a huge hug, he _really_ can’t believe he’s doing this. 

After he’d told Shiro about what had happened, Keith was sure his brother would encourage him to stay away from the guy who _literally_ hit him and his bike. But instead, Shiro was just curious about the “dangerous mystery man” who had crashed into Keith’s life. So after a little squabbling with Shiro and a lot of overthinking, here he was. 

He figured he’d go, get some free food – because let’s face it, neither he nor Shiro are all that good at cooking – make amends with this guy, and never see him again. Shiro couldn’t tease him anymore once he and Lance made their peace and got out of each other’s lives.

It’s only after walking in that he realizes he’s going to need to rethink that plan. He can’t remember the last time people were this affectionate around him. Actually, he can’t remember the last time he was voluntarily surrounded by this many people at once, period. 

The kids are hanging on him, and Lance’s mom keeps fussing, saying things like, “Oh, take off your jacket!” and “You don’t have to wear shoes in here!” Keith isn’t sure what to make of it all, since he’s never had younger siblings, but he can’t just shake them off, so he bears with it the best he can and hopes his scowl isn’t too obvious when they all pile up on him at once. 

Although he previously thought he never wanted to see the guy again, Keith has to say he’s a bit relieved when Lance steps around the corner and tears the kids off impressively easily, pulling Keith into a living room area and onto a couch.

“Hey,” Lance says, upbeat as ever, like this is an everyday occurrence.

“Uh. Hey,” Keith replies, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

His awkwardness seems to remind Lance of how out of the ordinary this situation is. Keith doesn’t say anything after that, so Lance goes ahead and says, “So… I really didn’t think you’d show up. Don’t worry, mamma’s making extra food and all, but still.”

“Me neither,” Keith admits, finally looking Lance in the eyes. “I mean, you do totally owe me. Those parts weren’t cheap. I just wish you could pay me back some other way.”

Lance’s smirk tells Keith he won’t like whatever dirty joke is about to come out of his mouth, so he cuts him off quickly by saying the first question that comes to mind. “So, anyways, where do you go to school?” 

“I can’t believe you’d come into my house and bring up school. Gross, Keith. But for your information, I’m a senior at Altea High School.”

“Oh cool, I’m a senior too. I go to the Garrison High School.”

Lance stares him down and asks, “Oh yeah? When’s your birthday then?”

“October 23rd. I’m kind of old for my grade.”

“Damn! And here I thought I’d be older. I was hoping I could lord my age and maturity over you for a while. But alas, I’m just a young, handsome July baby.”

Keith has to hand it to him, at least the guy’s amusing. “Better luck in your next lifetime, I guess.” 

Before Lance can fire back another cocky response, his mom calls them for dinner, and Lance excitedly leads them back to the kitchen, talking about how this is his favorite part of the day.

Once the boys get to the table and fill their plates, Lance’s mom starts to marvel over Keith. Thankfully, the rest of the family talks among themselves in smaller groups, which is much easier for Keith to handle.

“… and Lance hardly ever brings home friends anymore! Not even Hunk comes here all that often now.”

Lance makes eye contact with Keith from his spot across the table. Keith takes it as a silent plea for forgiveness for anything too embarrassing that might come out of his mom’s mouth.

“That’s because he’s always with his girlfriend now,” Lance replies.

“Who’s Hunk?” Keith asks innocently in Lance’s direction. Suddenly, Lance’s eyes go wide, and his mom looks confused.

“Lance, honey, you said Hunk introduced the two of you!”

Clearly caught in a lie, Lance looks around for help, and, finding none, stutters out in a high pitched voice, “Oh, did I say Hunk? I meant Pidge! Yeah, um, this guy’s never met Hunk before. Or… heard of him.”

Lance’s mom must trust her son unconditionally, because she seems to believe him. Keith isn’t sure why Lance didn’t explain the situation to his mom in the first place, but he decides to play along, assuming he didn’t want the flak for getting in an accident. “Yeah, Pidge is great.”

After Lance successfully steers the conversation away from Hunk and Pidge, the rest of the dinner seems to go well.

It’s only once dessert has been served and cleared that Lance’s mom – Rosa, as she insists he call her – starts really grilling Keith. She asks about school, sports, his motorcycle, everything she can think of. Keith is pretty sure he’s giving acceptable answers to all the questions, but one makes him pause abruptly.

“So Keith, tell me about your parents.”

“Uh,” Keith starts. He tries to look at Lance for help, but he’s busy cleaning the dishes and corralling the younger kids into helping him.

“What are their jobs?” she continues. “Do they work in the city?”

Keith can feel the panic rising the more she asks about them. It’s all he can do to shake his head, try to keep his heart rate down, and keep breathing. Lance’s mom, bless her, is too busy asking questions to notice. But Lance does, and he quickly tosses the towel over his shoulder and rushes over to Keith.

“Woah, hey, cool your jets mom, okay? Keith and I are gonna go hang out in my room now. Kiddos stay out, got it?” They collectively groan but finally agree to leave them alone for a short while.

Without another word, Lance is grabbing Keith by the hand and tugging him away from the table. The walk to Lance’s room seems impossibly long, and he collapses on the bed as soon as Lance lets go of him, feeling too dizzy to stand.

Keith can’t hold back the tears now, and his breath comes out in great gasping heaves. He hears himself trying to apologize but can’t quite manage to choke the words out.

“Hey, buddy, it’s okay. I locked the door so no one’s coming in. Take your time and feel better. It’s completely okay,” he repeats. He then pulls out a box of tissues and sets it down next to Keith. Keith grabs the box and covers his eyes with a tissue, trying to get back in control. 

It takes a long time for Keith to calm down and sit back up. It takes even longer for him to look over at the boy sitting next to him worriedly.

When he does, though, Lance looks at him intensely, as if trying to figure out if he’s really okay. He reaches a hand up, looking as though he doesn’t know what to do with it or what kind of comfort Keith needs, so he settles on reaching for a tissue, but seeing that Keith’s used the last of them, he instead moves his hand to wipe a stray tear off Keith’s face.

“Th-this is weird, right?” Keith asks. Lance abruptly drops his hand, looking startled. “I mean – I’m sorry. I just come into your house, eat your food, and have a panic attack in your room. This was definitely weird. I should probably go.”

He jumps up, ready to leave, but Lance puts his hand lightly on his shoulder before he gets far.

“Wait,” he says quietly. Lance seems overly invested, considering he just met Keith. “It’s fine. Things aren’t always rosy here either, and I’ve helped my siblings through worse before. You’re fine, man. I can help, if you want me to.”

This is absolutely foreign to Keith. “Help me? Why? We just met. You don’t even know me.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way. But tell me, how many people do you have in your life?”

“What?” Keith asks, confused at Lance’s nonsense question.

Sheepishly, Lance says, “I didn’t put that well at all. Sorry. I meant more like, how many people do you have that you can go to when that sort of thing happens?”

“Oh. Well, my brother. I guess maybe my high school counselor? And probably a couple guys who were a grade ahead of me in school.” Keith nods to himself, satisfied he’s made a comprehensive list.

Lance’s eyes go wide, and Keith wonders what he’s said wrong.

“Come to me.”

Again, Keith, can’t help the “What?” that comes out of his mouth.

“Listen, I realize that I just met you, but you don’t sound like you have the best support system. I’m good at being there for people. Not to brag or anything, but I’m always getting my friends out of sticky situations,” Lance says.

“You mean after you cause the situation?” Keith jokes lightly.

“Hey! Someone must be feeling better. Just to prove how much I care, I won’t even shut you down with one of my famous retorts. But what do you say?”

Keith adds quietly, “Maybe that’s just because you can’t think of one right now,” following it up with, “but I guess I’ll think about it.”

The other boy nods, pleased. “Well, you have my number. So, what do you want to do now?”

“I think I’ve embarrassed myself enough in front of your family for one day, thanks. I’ll probably just head home.”

“Cool, cool. I totally understand if that’s what you want to do. But just in case you’re interested, I may have told the kids you’d play Mario Kart with us. So that’s a thing.”

“Lance. I have anger issues. That game brings out the worst in me.”

“Yeah, cool, I under–”

"Let's do it."

 

Somehow, Lance manages to wrestle the red controller away from Keith. He doesn’t even like red that much, but winning it away from his new Mario Kart rival is a small victory that Lance needs, especially when Keith keeps beating him at his own game.

The youngest kids are hanging on Keith again, going against Lance’s direct orders, and one of the boys won’t stop messing with his hair. Keith looks like a mess, but it hasn’t broken his concentration, and nothing has stopped his winning streak yet. Not even Lance’s trash talk has thrown him off his game.

Finally, Lance gives. “Dude, you’re too good.”

“Years of practice.”

“You say that as if you don’t think I’ve _also_ had years of practice.”

Keith just laughs at that, and the two fall into a comfortable silence. Lance can’t help but comment on the ridiculous state of Keith’s hair, though, so he says, “Dude, my siblings did a number on your mullet.” He reaches up to fix it, but Keith pushes his hand away and does it himself. Lance is kind of offended that Keith brushed him off like that. He was hoping they’d grown a little closer after their talk upstairs.

“Hey, it is way too soon for you to touch my hair. I’m still not over the whole ‘helmet-hair’ comment you made.”

“Oh c’mon man! All in good fun.” Lance is kind of thrilled he remembers.

They joke around until Keith really has to leave. Lance walks him out to his motorcycle and says, “Drive safe man. I hope you come back to visit later. The kids really like you.”

Keith nods and drives away, waving as he passes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for the comments and kudos so far, it's really appreciated!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3: in which Keith has a gay panic moment but it's all in Lance's pov until next chapter so all y'all get is pining Lance for now
> 
> This chapter took way too long! But I'm hoping to get the rest of this story finished before classes start on the 4th so I hope you all are looking forward to that. Thanks everybody!

Lance has always loved meeting new people. He loves forming connections, and he loves uncovering shared interests. Plus, he just loves easy conversation. So now that he’s friends with Keith, he texts him an absurd amount. He wonders if it’s annoying, but he figures Keith has no one else he’s texting all that much, so he doesn’t feel too bad about blowing up his phone. Be it something funny he overheard that day, a story about one of his little cousins, or even just a meme, Lance sends it all to Keith. He doesn’t always respond, but he gets a text back in response to his antics often enough that Lance feels justified in sending him anything and everything, hoping to see Keith’s name light up his phone.

It’s late one night when Lance is rereading one of their past conversations, a habit he’s gotten into recently. He can’t help but laugh at one late-night talk in which Keith tried to (unsuccessfully) convince Lance that his love for cryptids is normal. 

HH: sure I like mothman as much as the next guy but I don’t think that makes me a cryptid lover

LM: Keith imma be real with you buddy there’s no liking mothman “as much as the next guy” bc the next guy has never even heard of mothman

HH: okay but you’ve heard of mothman so what does that say about you

Lance shakes his head fondly and is about to close the app when his phone lights up brighter and zooms down to the bottom of their conversation, presenting him with a new text from Keith.

_Oh God, I have read receipts on. This is when I die_ , he thinks as soon as he realizes that his phone registered the text was read immediately and that Keith probably saw it happen.

HH: hey

Lance tries to save face with a quick text back.

LM: hey I was just about to text you

HH: oh what about

LM: um… you first

HH: no you

If there’s one thing Lance has learned about Keith recently, it’s that the guy can be stubborn. Almost annoyingly so, at least when it comes to this sort of thing, so Lance decides to bite the bullet and send him something first.

LM: I just wanted to check in and see how things were going

HH: oh. they’re good

LM: Keith I know you’re a man of few words but you’ve gotta give me more than that

HH: well things have been not terrible 

Lance finds himself unconvinced, and he doesn’t want to push, but he really does want to be there for his new – friend? Crush? Whatever he is, Lance already feels protective over him.

LM: you sure? you can talk to me about anything you know

HH: I guess I’ve still been feeling weird about how things went at your house. I hope I didn’t make a terrible impression on your family

It’s a relief for Keith to bring this up – Lance had skirted around the event for a while, not sure how to approach it or if Keith wanted to talk about it in the first place, but his curiosity was burning.

LM: are you kidding, they loved you, plus I totally downplayed everything so I don’t think half of them even realized something was wrong.  
LM: so dude… can I ask about what my mom said to you that got you upset like that a while ago

It takes a while for Keith to message back, but when he does, it’s a pretty long text by Keith standards.

HH: sure. sorry again. but she asked me about my parents. I don’t really have any and she asked so many questions I should’ve been able to answer but I couldn’t so I freaked

LM: damn dude that’s shitty, I’m sorry I didn’t know, I would've told her

HH: not your fault

Lance’s heart swells when he realizes that Keith trusts him with details about his past, something not many people must know about. It feels special. He just hopes Keith feels the same way.

Lance and Keith spend a while talking, finally getting back to that easy banter they’re used to. When the two sign off to go to bed, Lance realizes he forgot to ask what Keith wanted to text him about in the first place, but figures that gives him an excuse to text him later. Not that he needs it.

 

Lance is at school, texting Keith during lunch, a habit he’s gotten into recently after finding out that their lunch times overlap by about half an hour. He finds himself laughing at a text Keith sends him, then looks up just in time to see Hunk’s disapproving face.

“Were you listening to anything I’ve said? Or are you flirting with whoever I’ve seen you texting all the time for the past few weeks now?”

Lance raises his hands up, acting offended. Granted, he hasn’t told Hunk or Pidge about the whole Keith thing yet –although he’s pretty sure they would just laugh at the disastrous way the two met – but for some reason, he’s wanted to keep their connection quiet. Keith is surprisingly easy to overwhelm, and he thinks together, these two might just pull it off.

“Uh, no, it’s just a friend. Some dude I met recently.”

“Mmhmm,” Hunk says, disbelief written all over his face. “Well if I know anything about you, Lance, which I should, having known you for years now, I know that’s the face you get when you’re talking to a crush.”

Lance’s face colors. “No way. I just met this guy, alright? Calm your nips.”

Hunk is not impressed. Pidge just laughs and astutely points out, “Lance, you’re quick to fall for anybody, girl or guy. You’re not fooling anyone here, lover boy.”

Lance and Pidge go back and forth for a bit, Hunk cheering on Pidge, that traitor, before Lance is again distracted by his phone. 

BM: hey cousin I’m sick so I’m stealing your ride home

“No, no, no! I don’t have time for Benny’s crap right now. He’s jacking my ride! Curse mom for making me give him a spare key.”

LM: bro how do you expect me to get home?????????

BM: idk stop being dramatic and take the bus? see you later

“No way. He wants me to take the bus. I haven’t taken the bus in years. Think about what this would do to my image!” Lance freaks out for a second and turns to Hunk with his hands clasped, eyes pleading.

Hunk doesn’t budge. “Sorry, man. I’m picking up Shay, and you know how far out of the way that’d be.”

“Ugh… Pidge, remind me again why you don’t drive yet?”

“Probably because I’m too young, smartass. Why don’t you just ask your new crush for a ride?”

Lanced decides that might not actually be a terrible idea. “Fine… I mean, he’s my last resort. I’ll do it.” He ignores the sniggers coming from his two friends and decides to test his luck and text Keith.

LM: Keith, buddy, I need a big favor

Lance knows he should be back in class already, but Keith responds right away. _What a rebel_ , he thinks.

HH: what is it

LM: you got an extra helmet?

 

It’s only when Lance is seated behind Keith on his motorcycle, arms wrapped around him tight that he thinks, _Yeah, okay, I could get used to this. Maybe I really do like this guy. Typical Lance move, fall for the first pretty boy who texts back regularly and likes banter._ He’s not excited for all the teasing Hunk and Pidge will subject him to, but if he’s being honest, he kind of deserves it. Lance is quick to fall for people. But as cliché as it sounds, this time feels different. It hasn’t been very long, but Lance feels like he could talk to Keith about anything.

Well, not at this very moment he can’t, apparently. 

“Keith! Aren’t you going a little fast?” he yells.

“Hmm?” Keith responds, either not hearing Lance or choosing not to. “What’d you say?”

“I said you’re a bad driver!”

“Good one, Lance.”

Of course he heard that, Lance thinks.

With nothing else to do, Lance settles in for the ride.

Lance is only jolted out of his daydreams of Keith when real life Keith stops his bike a little too abruptly. The breath is knocked out of Lance when he’s pushed closer to the other boy than he’d thought possible, and Keith stiffens. Lance, afraid what this might mean, loosens his grip and shifts back, hoping to make the other boy more comfortable. 

Keith doesn’t slow down the rest of the way to Lance’s house, and Lance is disappointed to have his time cut short with Keith, if only by a few minutes. They stop outside Lance’s house unceremoniously, and Lance slowly untangles his arms from around Keith and pulls off the helmet. He lingers on the motorcycle for a second, hesitant to get off, but eventually does so, thinking it might be easier to talk to Keith face to face. 

There's a too-long pause between them, and he can’t stand the awkwardness, so he puts his hand on Keith’s shoulder and asks, “Do you want to come in or something? Mom made cookies.”

Keith blushes at the touch and looks away. He seems so awkward that Lance isn’t surprised when he says, “Is that a bribe or something? But no, I have to get back.” 

Lance stares at him, trying to catch his eye and figure out what’s going on in his head. “Okay, cool. Um, where do you want the helmet?”

Keith shrugs. “Why don’t you hold onto it for now?”

Without speaking another word, Keith speeds off, not looking back. 

Lance again wonders how in the world he’s going to avoid scaring off this guy. He seems so skittish and fragile, but that just makes Lance even more determined to understand him. And hey, he’d made pretty boy blush, so that counts as a win in his book.

Plus, next time Hunk or Pidge come over, he can show off his shiny new motorcycle helmet.


End file.
